马航失联航班4名乘客身份可疑

 

Investigators² are examining the entire passenger manifest（旅客名单） after European diplomats³ said late on Saturday that two of the 227 passengers were travelling on stolen passports. Hishamuddin Hussein, who is also defence minister, said Malaysia would work with the FBI and other international agencies and that two more names were being checked.

 

"All the four names are with me," he said, according to Reuters.

 

He spoke⁴ as the multinational⁵ hunt for any sign of the Malaysia Airlines flight missing with 239 people on board widened on Sunday, with officials saying search and rescue teams had so far found no trace of it.

 

Hishammuddin also said there was a chance the aircraft had turned back in mid-air.

 

"We are looking at the possibility of an aircraft air turn back, in which case different locations will have to be identified," he said.

 

Citizens from 14 nations were on board, though the vast majority were Chinese. The 12-strong flight crew were all from Malaysia.

 

On Saturday night, diplomats confirmed that two Europeans listed on the passenger manifest - an Italian, Luigi Maraldi and an Austrian, Christian⁶ Kozel - had not been on the flight and were safe and well. Maraldi had his passport stolen in Thailand last year and Kozel's was stolen in the region two years ago.

 

The flight was a codeshare with China Southern and the two people named as Maraldi and Kozel on the list booked together via the Chinese airline, Chinese media reported.

 

The company said it had CCTV footage of the two people who checked in as Maraldi and Kozel.

 

The Boeing 777 disappeared from radar⁷ screens just 40 minutes into its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in the early hours of Saturday morning. It was last detected over the seas between Malaysia and Vietnam.

 

On Sunday morning the Malaysian director-general of civil aviation, Azaruddin Abdul Rahman, told reporters the search had expanded to a larger area of the South China Sea area and west coast of Malaysia, theStraits Times reported.

 

Warships⁸ from Singapore and China were heading to the area and the United States also offered vessels⁹ and aircraft.

 

In a statement issued on Sunday morning, Malaysia Airlines said: "More than 24 hours after the loss of contact with Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, the search and rescue teams are still unable to detect the whereabouts of the missing aircraft.

 

"In fearing for the worst, a disaster recovery management specialist from Atlanta, USA will be assisting Malaysia Airlines in this crucial time."

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